Time is a Curious Thing
by pottergirl17
Summary: HG & HrR. As a last resort, Dumbledore sends the Golden Trio and Ginny into the future to figure out how to stop the wizarding war once and for all. What they didn't count on was an unexpected death, a kidnapping, a sacrifice, and a plan gone wrong.
1. One Last Idea

Chapter 1- One Last Idea

Rain was beating down on the windows of the Headmaster's office, as Dumbledore, Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat around a desk. It had been a gloomy day, and the war continued to press on, causing the Order of the Phoenix more despair. Voldemort continued to defeat everything they were throwing at him, and since the former Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, had neglected to get creatures on their side early on, they were now all under Voldemort's command.

It was getting close to midnight, and the four still had gotten no progress on ideas as to how to defeat the dark lord. Dumbledore's theory that Voldemort had made horcruxes using something from each of the Founder's was disproved when all of the remaining artifacts from the Founders did not have a horcrux within them. They had tried to use the Pensive to find artifacts from Voldemort's past, but there were only a few horcruxes within those, and everything else left them with no results. Obviously, Voldemort had meant for the last horcrux to be harder to find than the others.

Besides these hints that led nowhere, they were still left with one. That was R.A.B., the initials on the letter inside the locket, and the person who had discovered and destroyed the first horcrux. From the note it was easy to calculate that Voldemort had gotten to him by now. Their only problem was finding out who this person was. Hermione had dug through the library countless times, and was still without a reasonable person to fit the initials on the letter. This was the point that they had been discussing all night. In fact, it had been the point of discussion for several days now.

Now that Harry, Ron, and Hermione weren't attending their seventh year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, it gave them more time to put into finding a way to defeat Voldemort. Even though they weren't attending the school for their seventh year, Dumbledore was nice enough to offer them rooms in a tower located on the north side of the castle. They thanked him for it, because it gave them their own private space to think and relax without the hustle and bustle of the kids at school. They did miss school, but the war was more important to them now.

"What else could be a name for the initials 'R.A.B.,' guys? I mean, he must have been a pretty powerful wizard to be able to drink that liquid all by himself and escape. Dumbledore and I had trouble doing it ourselves, and there were two of us!" Harry exclaimed.

"You're forgetting though, Harry that this R.A.B. could have taken someone along with him just as I did. R.A.B. could have even been the initials of multiple people who were all working together against Voldemort" replied Dumbledore.

This was what they had been going back and forth on all night long--the possibility of no body being found, and the possibility that it was a group of people using fake initials. It was the only lead they had, and it was frustrating Harry to a point of no return.

"Well, what if each initial stood for a single person's name?" Hermione suggested. "I mean, if we're having trouble fitting one person's name into the initials, then it would make sense that each initial stood for a single person."

"Yes, Hermione, but even if you're correct that would make our search even more complicated. There are many people in the magical world whose names start with the letters 'R,' 'A,' or 'B,' and even so, by the time we find them Voldemort may have won the war already." Dumbledore replied. "Ron, do you have any ideas?"

"I've been thinking so hard that my head hurts, and still haven't got a clue!" Ron responded.

Dumbledore walked over to the window in the corner of the room. His face looked tired, anxious, and frustrated, traits that normally he was very good at hiding behind his old face and half-moon spectacles. Silence ticked on for what seemed like forever until Dumbledore finally began to speak again.

"There is one possible solution," he began, "but it is very dangerous, very meddlesome, and is the last thing that I would normally wish to do. But time is running out, and answers are not coming to us as rapidly as we need them."

The silence from the concentration of the trio rang throughout the room as they all tried to pick up on what Dumbledore was saying.

"If time is what we need, then time is what we are going to have to use" Dumbledore began to explain. "We have already used the Pensieve to find out as much as we can about Voldemort's past, and we have tried to use the present to defeat him as well, but there is one piece of time that we have not attempted to use--the future."

"But sir, that's really dangerous I mean, what if one of us is unable to get back, or even all of us for that matter. We would be erased from time, and be stuck in the time stream for the rest of our lives!" Hermione exclaimed.

"I know, Miss Granger. That is why I said it is the last thing that I would ever wish to resort to, but what else do you propose for us to do? All of our other ideas have not been useful at all, and we can't just sit here and wait for Voldemort to win the war!"

"I know, sir, but there must be another way!"

"You three, just because I proposed this idea, it doesn't mean that you have to do it. It is one of my last ideas, and I don't want to sit around, attempting to come up with ideas to defeat Voldemort when he could break into Hogwarts at any given time. Harry? Ron? How do you feel about it?"

"I don't know sir." replied Ron.

"Me neither" said Harry "Could we have some time to think about it?"

"Very well," replied Dumbledore, "you have until 8 o'clock tomorrow night to make a final decision, but for now, go talk it over and get some sleep."

The trio made their way over to the door. Before closing it, Harry glanced back, only to see Dumbledore sit down in his chair with his hands on his head with an uneasy look on his face.


	2. A Night of Contemplating

CHAPTER 2- A night of Contemplating

Not even before they were down the steps Hermione and Ron burst out into conversation on their ideas over what they thought would be best for them to do. Hermione was against it after having already meddled with time in their third year, but so far Ron was for it.

"Ron, you don't understand how bad this could be, though." Hermione kept repeating. "We could get stuck in the time stream and erase ourselves from time. Then how could Harry complete the prophecy when he can't even get back to his proper era!"

"I know Hermione," Ron kept repeating back, "But what if those things don't happen. We could have the ultimate weapon against him, and Harry would definitely be able to defeat him, hands down!"

"Harry, what do you think?" They both demanded.

Having been in a daze trying to compare the pros and cons of the situation, the sudden question startled him. "I don't know guys," He ended up replying, "I don't know."

The trio made their way towards the north side of the castle in silence until they reached their tower, and made their way to the portrait guarding the front of their room. The portrait was of Sir Cadogan, the knight, whom Harry and Ron had the great pleasure of meeting in their third year, as well as Hermione when the Fat Lady was too terrified to be the Gryffindor dorm portrait for a while. Dumbledore had moved his portrait over to this side of the castle when the other portraits by professor Trelawney's room started complaining about him. The three of them didn't mind him being their portrait, for they knew how to deal with him.

"Draw you mangy mongrels!" He shouted as the three of them approached his portrait.

"I would, but I left my fighting sword inside…" Hermione replied.

"Maybe another time then..." Sir Cadogan answered, disappointed.

"Hippogriff" Harry said, giving Sir Cadogan the password. He was not in the mood to prolong his entrance into the dorm any longer. It had been a long day, and he was most assuredly ready to go to bed. The portrait hole swung open, and Harry quickly jumped inside and laid down on the cushiony couch in front of the crackling fire that the house elves had thankfully started. Ron and Hermione quickly followed suit, and took a seat in a chair on either side of him staring into space. The silence lasted a while until Harry chose to break it with a few simple words.

"I'm going up to bed." He quickly made his way off the couch, and started up the set of stairs that led to the boys' side of the dormitory. Ron followed suit without a word, while Hermione stayed sitting in the chair, not taking notice of the sudden flee of Ron and Harry.

As they entered the room, Harry decided he didn't feel like talking to Ron. He just didn't know what to say to him. He had to make a decision and side with either Ron or Hermione, and at the moment, he wasn't exactly sure which one to do! Yes, there was a plus to going into the future, but what about the consequences. Hermione was right; the situation they were in was a horrible one and each piece of information they had had to be analyzed carefully before he made a decision.

Ron understood from Harry's silence that he wanted to be left alone, and quickly hopped into his bed, ready to go to sleep after the long day. Harry watched him from the corner of his eyes wondering how his best friend was able to decide what he wanted to do so quickly, as he finished brushing his teeth and washing his face. He looked up into the mirror before leaving the bathroom, and watched as his undecided green eyes stared back at him.

His bed was warm as he slipped into it, for the house elves had once again slipped a heated pan into it to leave it that way. "_Thank goodness Hermione given up S.P.E.W, or I don't know what I would do without those house elves_!" Harry thought to himself. He then folded up his glasses, placed them on his night stand, and turned out the light. By the time he turned over and tried to close his eyes, he heard Ron's snores from across the room, signaling that he was asleep.

Try as he might, Harry just couldn't fall asleep. Thoughts swirled around his head, and there was no way to get them out.

"_What if we do go?"_ He thought.

_We could get the ultimate weapon in defeating Voldemort, as Ron said. But Hermione is also right. We could get stuck in the time stream, and I would never be able to fill the prophecy then. We could also learn too much that it could horribly change the future from what it is destined to be, and that is just as bad. But we need to find out who this R.A.B is, we need to know if going to the future is going to end this war, we need to know Voldemort's weakness, we…we just can't lose this war. Anyway, if the idea was that bad, Dumbledore wouldn't have suggested it, would he?_

These thoughts were still burning into Harry's head when the sunlight began to shine in his dorm, and Ron began to stir. He had had a peaceful night, unlike Harry, who was destined to go for a day without sleep.

The boys then ungratefully began to get ready for the next day. Even though they weren't attending classes, they still had to get up early enough if they wanted breakfast. They both threw on a pair of jeans, while Ron put on a hand-knit sweater from his mom that she had sent him recently, and Harry threw on a red t-shirt, with a blue zip-up jacket.

The two boys then made their way into the bathroom to finish the process by brushing their teeth, and washing their faces. Before heading downstairs, Harry made one last attempt to straighten his messy black hair, but in the end gave up, knowing that it was hopeless.

Ron was still quiet as they walked down the stairs, and quickly stifled a yawn. Even though Ron had been able to fall asleep, he still hadn't sleep for long, since they had gotten in so late, and had to get up so early. Harry so far, was unable tell if his best mate had changed his mind on Dumbledore's proposition or not, and was quickly surprised when Ron suddenly halted at the bottom of the stairs, causing Harry to run into him. He chuckled at the sight before him when he looked up. Hermione was fast asleep on the same chair that she had been on when they went up to bed. Apparently she had been up all night as well, contemplating the right solution…


	3. The Decision

Chapter 3- The decision

Harry and Ron quickly made their way over to Hermione, and shook her awake. Her chocolate brown eye's slowly opened and stared questionably back at them.

"Time to go already?" she inquired in a sleepy voice.

"Yes." The boys answered back. Hermione groggily got up off the chair and stretched.

"I'll be down in a few." She told them, and with that she was already making her way up the stairs to the girls' side of the dorm. Harry and Ron made their way over to the couch and sat down. Thoughts began to run through Harry's head once again as they waited, tearing him in two.

Hermione scrambled to get ready as fast as she could, but this was terribly hard for her because she had not gotten any sleep last night, and had just closed her eyes when the boys came to wake her up. Thoughts had run through her head all night about the decision they had to make today, and she wondered if either of the boys had had any sleep either.

She was now undecided about what to do. Some pros of the situation had won her over last night, such as the thought that Dumbledore was the person suggesting them to do it, but she was not convinced towards either option otherwise. She supposed that the rest of the day would be composed of an argument about what they would be doing, and she was definitely not looking forward to it.

After she had finished getting dressed, she glanced into the mirror to see how she looked. She had on a pair of jeans along with the boys, and had thrown on a light pink long sleeve shirt with a white tank top underneath it. She decided that the outfit was fine for the day and then made her way up to her face. Her hair was getting easier to brush and tame now as she got older, and she was grateful for it. It was less bushy now, and fell into beautiful waves alongside her face. Once she was pleased with her appearance she headed back down the stairs to see Harry and Ron sitting on the couch in animated conversation.

"Ready?" Hermione inquired. The boys turned around and quickly nodded their heads. As they headed towards the door, they each took their cloaks off the stand that was holding them, and made sure each of them had their wands. Once they were ready the trio stepped out, and started to walk to the great hall for breakfast with their old classmates.

When they opened the doors to the great hall, Harry quickly made his was over to Ginny, Ron's sister, and his girlfriend. They gave each other a light kiss and he sat down and grabbed a plate next to her. Ron and Hermione quickly followed suit behind him, each grabbing a plate as well. They had a long day ahead of them, and needed to energize what little energy they had left in their bodies.

"So what classes do you have today, Ginny?" Hermione asked.

"Oh, nothing much," Ginny replied. "I have first and second block off, then lunch, then double potions with Slughorn, and finally DADA with Lupin. But since Harry helped us with DADA, that class is easy, even with Lupin back."

"You want to hang out with us then, this morning?" Harry asked, even with Hermione's stare telling him, "Don't do it, Harry!"

"Sure," Ginny answered, "What are you talking about this morning?"

"We'll tell you later." Hermione answered. "Harry, can I have a moment with you please?" She said in a very Mrs. Weasley mock voice, which Harry knew not to object to.

"Sure." Harry replied as he got up and moved next to her, while Ron began a conversation with his sister.

"What do you think your doing, Harry?" Hermione raged. "Were going to be talking about a very delicate subject today, one that I don't even know if Ginny should understand were even considering!"

"Hermione," Harry said back ignoring the anger and concern in her eyes,

"Ginny is as much in our discussion as she wants to be. She is only a few months underage, and then she will be able to join us. Plus, her whole family is in the order, and I don't think that you would prefer a really bad bat-bogey hex in your face would you? She's my girlfriend, and I say that she is old enough to hear what her boyfriend might or might not be going to do!"

Hermione was about to fight back with him, but realized that he was right. Ginny was like one of them, whether she was younger or not. "Very well," she told Harry, "You can go back now."

Harry then got up, and sat back down in his old seat, continuing Ron and Ginny's conversation, thankful for Hermione's understanding.

Once the four of them were done with breakfast they made their way outside to the courtyard. Snow was falling around them like little drops of heaven, landing in piles on the ground. It had risen about an inch high, and was the perfect amount of snow. They found a bench in the corner and each settled onto it. Harry, Ron, and Hermione had each been planning to sit under their normal tree by the lake, but seeing the circumstances as they may, decided otherwise.

"So can I know now what you guys are talking about?" Ginny inquired.

"Yes." Harry replied. He then began to explain about last night in Dumbledore's office to her, how they were out of solutions, and going into the future was the only one that Dumbledore could come up with.

"Dumbledore couldn't come up with anything else?" Ginny asked, astonished, "Seriously, nothing else?"

"No," Hermione replied still not believing it herself, "Nothing else."

"Well, then I think that the answer is simple then," Ginny told them,

"If Dumbledore was the one to suggest it, then I think that it is the best thing for you to do." Hermione was starting to interject, but Ginny cut her off. "I know, Hermione, that there are many dangerous consequences in going into the future, but Dumbledore wouldn't suggest something that had a completely high percentage in hurting you. He would never forgive himself then." In the background behind her voice, the clock stuck out, and Ginny jumped up in surprise. "Is it eleven already?" she asked herself, "Wow, time flies by fast! I've got to go get ready for class, ok? I'll meet you in the great hall for lunch!" And with that she ran out of the courtyard, and was gone. There was a pause before anyone spoke again.

"I agree with my sister so far on this one, guys. She's got a good point, and I wasn't swayed to begin with!" Ron told his friends.

"You know what," Harry replied, "Me too. Ginny has convinced me, and I would probably have decided to go anyway, in the end! Hermione what about you?"

"Guy's, I still don't kno—."

"Hermione…"

"Fine, I agree, we should go." She answered.

"It's settled then!" Harry told them. "After lunch we will start packing, and tonight we will tell Professor Dumbledore our decision. But in the meantime we told Ginny that we would meet her in the great hall for lunch, so let's get going." The trio then got up off the bench, and made their way over to the great hall. Even though it had only been a few hours ago that they had had breakfast, they were all once again starving.

Student's were beginning to trickle into the great hall as Harry, Ron, and Hermione started to head over to the Gryffindor table for lunch. They saw Ginny already sitting down at the table with her school bag looking around for them when they had spotted her. Once again Harry took a seat next to his girlfriend, while his other friends sat on his opposite side. All at once, plates began to appear on the table, filled with sandwiches, and other delicious lunch foods. They all began to dig in, and Harry turned to talk to Ginny.

"Your argument has convinced us all," Harry whispered to her.

"We're going into the future to find out how to defeat Voldemort."

"Good." Ginny whispered back, "I just knew that if Dumbledore thought that you should do it, then it was the right solution." The rest of lunch continued in silence as the four of them ate. Nobody had anything left say to each other, and even more, no one knew what to say to each other. But as He, Ron, and Hermione got up to start packing, he couldn't help but notice the hint of disappointment in Ginny's eyes as they walked away.

Harry and Ron were animatedly discussing what they imagined the future to be like once they were back in their dorms packing. Spells were flying everywhere, while clothes and objects were being summoned to their owners. Hermione couldn't help but still feel uneasy about the situation. She knew that Harry and Ron were right, and she also would have probably chosen the same decision in the end, but Hermione was still being stubborn in her head about it.

She threw some of her clothes into her bag, wondering how much the wizarding world will have changed if their plan succeeded and Voldemort was defeated. It would be terrible if they walked into a future where Voldemort was the supreme ruler and…

"_What are you telling yourself?" Her mind screamed at her. "If you keep thinking negatively you will end up changing your mind, and Harry and Ron will be angry at you! Be positive!"_

Once she was done packing, Hermione made her way over to the boys room. She was surprised to see that they were having a big argument.

"I think that it's a good idea!" yelled Harry.

"Well I don't, and since I have a say in that situation I say no!" Ron yelled back.

"BOYS!" Hermione screamed at both of them. "Calmly one of you tell me what's going on so that we can settle this argument. We don't want to go through fourth year all over again do we?"

"No." they both answered.

"Now what's going on?" Hermione demanded.

Harry started to open his mouth, but Ron was quicker to say what was on his mind. "Harry thinks it's a good "idea" to take Ginny along with us!" Ron told her, staring at Harry the whole time. "I told him that it was a stupid idea, that he was pushing it, and that I could just as easily take my permission to date her away from him!"

"Oh, so I need your permission to date your sister?" Harry yelled again.

"Yes, you do!" Ron yelled back.

"BOYS!" Hermione yelled for the second time. Each of them held their tongue, and turned to her.

"Harry, even though I don't think that it is the best idea for Ginny to come along with us, this morning you proved to me that she is a part of this group, so I don't mind as long as you ask Dumbledore's permission."

"But Hermione…" Ron complained.

"Ron, even though she is your little sister, she is only several months younger than you, and it's time you gave up on this whole permission thing and started treating her with the respect that she deserves."

"But—." Ron began.

"Ron…"

"Alright… Harry, I am sorry, and it's ok if you ask if Ginny can come along, and you don't need my permission to date my sister."

"Apology accepted." Harry told him.

"Well if you two are done, bring your bags down with mine, and we will head down to dinner. But Harry you mustn't tell Ginny that you are asking Dumbledore until he tells you that it's alright."

"Fine." Harry replied, and with that their bags were flying down the stairs to meet Hermione's.

The Great Hall was already filled with students when the trio arrived. Ginny was already eating having decided to start without them when they didn't arrive on time.

"Hey Ginny!" Harry said as they sat down at the table.

"Hey!" She replied back.

"How's dinner?" He inquired.

"Good as usual, the house elves did a good job again." Harry smiled. The house elves were good at what they did, and always succeeded in making a wonderful meal. Harry could never get through summers at the Dursley's without missing their cooking. Thankfully he never had to go back there again.

Dinner was once again quiet as they ate, having everything already been said. Once they were done, the trio made their way towards the seventh floor to be a few minutes early for their meeting with Dumbledore.

"Phoenix Tails." Harry said to the stone gargoyle. It then sprang to life to reveal a set of stairs leading to the headmaster's office. The trio walked up to the top and knocked on the door.

"Enter." said Dumbledore's familiar voice within the office, but when the trio slid the door open, their jaws dropped in surprise.


	4. A Taste of What is to Come

Chapter 4- A Taste of What is to Come

Dumbledore was lying down with his back against the stone floor, his face as pale as a ghosts'. Madam Pomphrey was kneeling down next to him, attending him in what assistance he needed. Meanwhile, his office was a mess! Papers were strewn about all over the place, while piles of books were stacked I random places throughout the room. His desk had been pushed to the side of the wall, and you could no longer see the window in which the quiddich pitch could be seen at a distance.

"Dumbledore, what happened?" Hermione gasped, looking around the office and then back at him.

"I'm fine you three," he told them as he started to sit up, "I was just looking for some books and paperwork for tonight, and as to my condition, it was just my old age getting to me while going down the landing. Luckily Professor McGonagall had been there at the time to retrieve help."

"Ok, Headmaster," Madame Pomphrey began, "I'm going to go back to the hospital wing, but once your done with your meeting I want you to come back down to me so that I can check up on you."

"Ok." Said Dumbledore, and with that she went past the trio, and downstairs. They then helped Dumbledore up and walk over to a chair to sit down. "Thank you." He told them. "Now let's get down to business. What have you three decided?" There was a pause in speech before Harry answered him.

"Sir, we are going to go."

"Good." Replied Dumbledore, "then let's get down to business…teaching you how to travel into the future and back to the past."

"Err, sir?" Harry questioned.

"Yes, Harry?"

"I was wondering…would it be ok if Ginny came with us? I know that she is not of age, but she is a part of this group, and I think that she should be able to come with us."

"If you think that that would be suitable, then I trust you, Harry. You may go fetch her then, if she will be going with us."

"Thank you, sir!" Harry said a little too enthusiastically, and with that he was out of the office and on his way to Gryffindor tower.

"So, while Harry retrieves Ginny, I'm going to start explaining the process to two. You are going to get there by a spell called _sportimo_. It will not take you just with the spell into the future, nor into the past. Before, and while you cast the spell, you must be thinking of a detailed time and place where you want to go. As long as you stay concentrated, you will be able to do it like so…" Dumbledore explained, as he got up. "_Sportimo."_ He yelled. There was a flash of blinding light, and Dumbledore was gone. Ron and Hermione looked all over the place, wondering where he had gone, when all of a sudden there was another blinding flash of light, and he was right back before them. "See?" He asked.

"It sounds very advanced." Hermione commented, looking at him questionably. "Are you sure that we are going to be able to do it?"

"Actually Miss Granger, it is not at all as complicated as it seems. As a matter of fact, I am pretty sure that you will be able to do it right now!" Dumbledore replied. "Go ahead, Stand up." Hermione did so, a little confused, but confidently stood up straight and looked back at the professor.

"Now close your eyes, and imagine this office as it is just now." She then closed her eyes and did just that. "Now," he said, "imagine traveling through time. Imagine that you are standing in that exact same spot that you are now, except a few minutes later. Keep a clear image of that in your mind." Hermione then did just that. She imagined herself standing on the stone floor in Dumbledore's office, except a few minutes had passed by from what it was now. "Ok, Hermione, now say _Sportimo_."

"_Sportimo."_ Hermione uttered. There was a gigantic flash, and when Hermione opened her eyes she was traveling through a whirlwind of time and space. Colors and actions flashed before her eyes, as she saw Ron and Dumbledore fast forwarding in the office, and just as suddenly as it had started, there was another flash of light, and it had stopped. She was once again standing in the same spot that she had imagined, except Ron and Dumbledore had changed their positions.

"Well done, Miss Granger." The headmaster told her, "I knew that you would be able to do it! Now, Mr. Weasley, it's your turn." Ron gulped as he stood up. He knew that he wasn't as good as Hermione in class, and he was very nervous. "Now, close your eyes." The Headmaster told him. Ron closed his eyes, but they quickly flew open when there was a knock on the door. "Enter." said Dumbledore. Harry and Ginny quickly slide into the room with that, and took a seat next to Hermione. "Miss Granger, would you kindly explain to Harry and Ginny how to time travel while Mr. Weasley practices?"

"Sure!" Hermione said, starting a deep discussion with the couple about how the time traveling was to be performed.

"Now, Mr. Weasley, where were we…oh, yes, close your eyes please." Ron did as he was told, still nervous about whether he could do it or not. "Now, Picture the office just as it is now, down to every detail. Picture where you are standing, where I am standing as well as your friends, and picture every trinket on every table." Ron did as he was told. "Good, now imagine you traveling through time. Imagine that you are standing in the same spot that you are now, except a few minutes later. Now, keep a clear image of that in your mind, and say: _Sportimo_.

"_Sportimo_." Ron muttered. With another gigantic flash Ron too, was traveling through time and space. He watched time fast-forward for a few seconds, and with another gigantic flash, Ron was once again in the headmaster's office, except a few minutes later. "I did it!" Ron shouted, once he had finally come back to reality. "I time traveled!"

"Good job, mate!" Harry told him, smiling at his friend's happiness. The next half hour was devoted to teaching Harry and Ginny how to time travel. They both were able to do it on their first try as well. They all then spent another few minutes practicing going into the future all at once by linking hands, which is what they would be doing tomorrow morning when they would actually be going through a gigantic period of time.

"Well, done you guys!" Dumbledore told them. "Now, we have to work on going back in time so that you will be able to come home. It is exactly the same spell, and same ideas that you use to get into the future, except for it is performed backwards, and you think of where you are now, and where you want to go in the past.

Another hour was spent devoted to practicing traveling into the past. It was just as easy as traveling into the future in the foursome's point of view. Before they knew it the clock struck midnight, and the students gathered around Dumbledore for one last word before they headed off to their dorms for the night.

"I am very proud of what you guys have accomplished tonight," Dumbledore told them, "I have the utmost feeling that you will be ready when you leave tomorrow. I want you to be here right after breakfast tomorrow morning, packed and ready to go. There is no need to be nervous, you guys will be fine. Go on ahead to bed now."

They headed out of his office with no complaints, and each said goodnight to the professor before walking out the door and to their towers for bed.

Harry was finally fast asleep before the dream came. He had not been expecting it.

_Hermione was sitting at the stump of a tree crying. It was a bright and beautiful day, the birds were chirping, and the sun was shining. A young woman who looked to be in about her third or fourth year at Hogwarts was walking towards Hermione, a nervous expression on her face. There was a sudden flash of light to the left, but neither of the two girls seemed to care or notice it._

_All of a sudden, the sky began to turn dark. There was a flash of lightning, and Hermione stopped crying as her features turned to fright. The girl that had been walking towards Hermione started to flash, disappearing out of sight. Trees began to die, and smoke and fire filled the air. There was no more grass no more birds, no more anything living, but Hermione. Then a voice spoke from somewhere nearby._

"_I've been searching for you Hermione." The voice said. "I've been waiting for this day for a long time now." Hermione grabbed her wand and jumped to her feet as a figure emerged from behind a nearby tree. "It's time for you to DIE!" the figure yelled. "Avada Kedavra." Hermione started to mutter a spell, but it was hopeless as the jet of green light flew Hermione's way…_

"Hermione!" Harry yelled, suddenly waking up from the dream. Ron jumped up as soon as Harry yelled.

"Harry, what's wrong?" He asked worried.

"Nothing," Harry said, "just a bad dream." But even so, as he lay back down, he rubbed his scar as it began to prickle.

Finally, morning had dawned, and the foursome went down for breakfast. Harry had not gotten much sleep last night after the dream, but occasionally drifted in and out of it. There was not much to discuss at breakfast. It felt weird for them to sit with happy talking people who were depending on them as they departed this morning. Nobody really ate much, as their nerves were running high, and when the time finally came, they grabbed their bags and made their way over to the headmaster's office to start their journey into the future.

"Enter" Came Dumbledore's familiar voice as they knocked before they came in. Dumbledore's office had been tidied up a little bit after last night. The papers and books that had been strewn about were now put away, but his desk still remained at the side of the room so that they had room to stand together to perform the spell. "Are you guys ready?" Dumbledore asked as they all walked in and stood in a line next to each other.

"As ready as we'll ever be!" Harry replied, with a nervous tone in his voice.

"It's ok to be nervous." Dumbledore assured them. "Now, I must warn you that you must not find out too much about the future. You could manipulate it too much and cause terrible consequences, as Miss Granger pointed out the other night."

"We promise, we won't" Hermione assured him. "I will make sure that we don't interfere too much, and just find out as much information as we need to know."

"Good." The headmaster replied. "Well, then there is nothing left to do but be on your way." He told them. "Have you decided who will be performing the spell?" he inquired.

"Hermione." The group said in unison. Dumbledore began to chuckle.

"I should have known. Well, please get into the formation that we practiced last night, then." The foursome then linked hands and held on to their bags as best they could. Hermione was on the end with her wand held out, ready to perform the spell.

"Well, you guys know what to do from here," the headmaster told them, "Best of luck!" with those last words he left his office to let the four of them go on from there.

"Ready?" Hermione asked?

"Ready." The rest of the group responded.

"_Sportimo!"_ Hermione shouted. There was a gigantic flash of light, and once again as Hermione opened her eyes she was flying with the others through a whirlwind of time and space. Colors and actions once again flashed before her eyes, but she was too distracted to make most of them out. She saw a piece of their graduation flash before her eyes, as she finished the as the top in the class. All of a sudden there was another clip as Harry was promoted from an intern at the auror office to an actual auror, as she, Ron, and Ginny were in the audience, cheering him on. Hermione couldn't help but notice that both she and Ginny had engagement rings on their fingers. As she pondered that fact, she was too distracted to watch any of the rest of the clips until there was a final flash of light, signaling the end of their journey. No one was expecting it to end, and when it stopped they all fell on their backs into the soft dewy grass of Hogwarts' school grounds, fifteen years into the future.

"Ouch!" Ron yelled once he had finally come to his senses when the spell wore off.

"You can say that again!" Harry told his friend again as they all started to get up. "That abrupt ending wasn't what I had been expecting!" he said as he brushed some grass off his pants.

"Me either." said Hermione. The foursome started to look around at the surrounding of the school in the future, when all of a sudden there was a loud cry to their left!

"Mom? Dad? What are you doing here?" it yelled. "Is everything ok?"


	5. The Future

Chapter 5- The Future

The trio whirled around to see a young boy hurriedly walking over towards them. He had black messy hair, deep chocolate brown eyes, and wore a Hogwarts school uniform which was adorned with a Gryffindor cloak. He looked to be about fourteen years old, and there was a mischievous look on his face as he walked down the hill towards where they were standing.

"Who are you?" Ron asked, trying not to sound rude. The other three were wondering the same question too, for the young boy looked all too familiar. The boy looked shocked at the question at first, but it only lasted a moment before it was replaced with a smile.

"My name is Sirius." He explained. The foursome jumped back in surprise.

"Did you just say your name was Sirius?" gasped Harry, his mind racing.

"Umm, yes." the boy said, now a little confused.

"Hermione…" said Ron, catching on to what Harry had been thinking, "you were supposed to send us to the future, not the past!"

"But…But…" Hermione stuttered, "I never mess up. I had the spell perfect; I mean I did exactly as Dumbledore instructed me. And we saw those images as we were traveling!"

"Yes, but apparently you weren't thinking clearly and brought us into the past, because Sirius is now standing in front of us."

"Umm, guys?" Ginny asked as Hermione and Ron continued to argue. They didn't seem to notice her talking, though.

"Guys." Harry shouted a little louder than Ginny, but still not being noticed by the two.

"…and now Sirius Black is standing in front of us…" Ron continued to argue.

""GUYS!" Sirius shouted. This time the two stopped arguing and looked at the boy, surprised. Ginny and Harry were looking at him too, just as shocked. "My name's not Sirius Black."

"It's not?" Ron and Hermione asked.

"No." the boy answered. "It's Sirius Potter." He said grinning at Harry.

"What?" Harry asked. The other three were just as surprised as him.

"I'm yours and hers'," he said pointing to Ginny, "son."

Harry and Ginny exchanged looks at each other, but in the end they hugged and their eyes started to water. "You hear that, Harry? We have a son." Ginny told him. The couple couldn't have been happier.

"Well," said Sirius, "we better get going if you want to meet your future selves."

"You can leave Hogwarts?" Hermione questioned. If he was anything like his father, she wasn't sure if she wanted to hear the answer.

"Yes," Sirius replied. "In the future, you're allowed to go home on the weekends to see your family by portkey. Everyone should already be there, I was just sent to wait for you guys." The foursome exchanged glances. Apparently they were expecting themselves.

"Where are we meeting ourselves then? I mean, we don't all live in one house right?" Ginny asked.

"Where do you think we are meeting?" Sirius asked.

After one glance in each other's direction, they knew where they were going. "The burrow." They all muttered.

Instead of falling to the ground like they had in their fourth year, they used the proper technique and landed gracefully on their feet. Apparently Sirius had done this before, for he did the same. The burrow looked the same as it normally did back in their time. The look that it might fall over any minute and magic was the only thing that was keeping it up. Sirius walked up to the front door and knocked. "Were here!" he yelled. There were some mutters from inside before someone came and opened the door. A woman with gray hair and a stern wealseyish face came out.

"Mom, is that you?" Ginny asked as she walked over to the woman.

"Yes, sweetheart." She told her as they hugged. "My, it's been a long time since you were this little." Ron came up and gave her a hug as well, "Same with you Ronald." Mrs. Weasley looked around at the other two time travelers. "Harry, Hermione, don't think that you are going to get away without a hug either." The two grinned and gave her a hug as well. "Let's go inside shall we." Mrs. Weasley insisted as they walked past the door.

When they walked inside they found many people sitting around the kitchen table. Four of them were kids, four of them looked all too familiar, and six had a Weasley look to their faces. "Well, here they are!" Mrs.Weasley announced.

With this, the four people that looked familiar came up, and stood next to their younger selves. Harry didn't look like he had changed much. He was the same height, had the same dazzling emerald eyes, and his hair was still a black mess. One of the only differences was that his face was more mature, and had a look of hardship on it.

Next to him stood Ginny's older self. Her hair was still a flaming red, and her eyes a chocolate brown. She was slightly taller, but not much, and many of her features seemed more feminized. On her hand rested a single wedding ring with a brilliant diamond on top. "So, we have a son?" Ginny asked Harry and her older selves.

"Yes, and we have two other kids as well. Kids!" the older Harry yelled. Two kids jumped down from the table. One was a boy with flaming red hair, and chocolate brown eyes. He looked like he was about ten years old, but also had his father's mischievous look about him. Slightly behind him was a girl who also had flaming red hair, but her eyes were emerald green like her father's. She looked to be about eight years old, and was almost a replica of her mother. "This is James," the older Ginny said pointing to the younger son, "and this is Clara." She said pointing to the girl. "James is eleven and in his first year at Hogwarts, and Clara is seven and stays at home." The children were very polite and said "hi" to their younger parents, but they still seemed shocked that their parents could look so young. Sirius was the eldest of the three kids, and as Harry predicted, was fourteen years old. He seemed the least shocked of all the kids about their arrival.

Ron's older self was very close to what he looked like now. He was still tall and gangly, but his body had grown into it more. He seemed manlier, and his flaming red hair a little more tamed. Hermione's older self stood next to him, but some features were changed. Her bushy brown hair that was just starting to be tamed was completely under control, and fell in beautiful locks beside her face. She seemed more mature, grown, and feminine.

"We have some kids as well." The older Ron explained as the other two kids hopped down from the table.

"What do you mean we?" Ron asked, confused.

"You know," he explained to his younger self, "us and Hermione."

"What?" said Ron and Hermione.

"Ron," the older Hermione whispered, "we haven't told each other yet."

"Told each other what?" Hermione asked suspiciously.

"The secret that you both have kept hidden from each other for years," Ron explained. "The secret of how you both love one another."

"You love me?" Ron and Hermione asked at the same.

"I thought you still loved Lavender." Hermione told him.

"Well, I thought you still loved Krum." Ron said back.

"I love you." whispered Hermione.

"I love you too." whispered Ron. And with that they began to kiss. The two kids who had walked up to their parents older counterparts began to giggle. Ron and Hermione broke away blushing, finding all eyes on them.

"Finally," muttered Ginny. "I've been waiting for this day for a long time." The family broke out into laughter and comments of agreement before Ron and Hermione's children were properly introduced to them.

"This is Jamie," Hermione's older self explained to them pointing to a girl with straight brown hair and blue eyes. She was already Hermione's height and looked to be about Sirius's age. "She is fourteen, and in the same year as Sirius. This is Courtney," she continued pointing to the smaller girl who had flaming red hair, like her father, and brown eyes. She was about half of Ron's size. "She is six years old and stays at home." The children had about the same reaction as Ginny and Harry's, still having smiles on their faces after seeing their parents kiss. Ron and Hermione were ecstatic though, to find their love had been feeling the same way as them all these years.

After all the new people had been introduced, hugs went around, conversation rippled out through the family as they looked at how they had changed, and new and old discussions were brought up. Quiddich was the main topic between the men, as always, while the women talked about more conservative things. They sat down and had one of the usual Weasley dinners, as the family went around talking about their husbands and wives, and life after the war. The kids went away to play and do homework so their parents could have time alone.

After a few hours had passed since dinner, and conversations were beginning to die down, the foursome's older counterparts brought them each into separate rooms. It was time to have a talk about what they had come here for.


	6. Gaining Knowledge

Chapter 6: Gaining Knowledge

Harry/ Older Harry: 11:00pm

Harry and his future self made their way outside of the burrow and took a seat in some wooden chairs that had been placed against the back wall of the house. It had just turned eleven o'clock, and the starts were shining brightly above their heads. Both Harry's stared at the sky for a while admiring its beauty, until Harry chose to break the silence.

"So how much can you tell me?" he asked. "I know it mustn't be much, otherwise it would ruin the future." He added remembering Hermione's comment to Dumbledore before they had left.

"Not much." Replied Harry's counterpart, thoughtfully. "I guess we are really just mentors for you guys while you are here. I know that we cannot tell you anything about how to defeat Voldemort, that you have to figure it out for yourselves, but otherwise I can slip you little facts here and there of what you want to know…for example we have told you who your kids are and who you are going to marry. Is there anything else that you really want to know about what has happened to you over the past seventeen years?"

"Well, as we were time traveling, I saw me getting promoted from an intern to an auror. So I am assuming that I am an auror?" he asked curiously.

"Head auror actually." His older self told him. "Even though we were recommended for the job by a death eater, we kind of stuck with it. Especially after Snape switched over to defense and we were able to continue potions."

"Well, that's good to know that even though I missed seventh year I will still be able to get the job that I want." Harry replied. There was a pause for a moment as Harry rummaged through his brain to see if there were any other minor things that he would be allowed to be told. He thought of a few, but decided not to ask them. _I must leave a few surprises for myself _he thought. "Well, I best be off to bed. The four of us have a long day ahead of us tomorrow."

"Yes, you do." Replied Harry's future self. "Just remember that we can't help you no matter how weird or tangled things seem. We're only here to guide you through what you have been missing." He reminded Harry as they made their way back inside.

"I know." Harry told him as he began the ascent up to his bedroom.

Hermione/ Older Hermione: 11:05pm

Hermione and her future self went into the Weasley's living room, after putting the kids to bed. They both had been thinking about this conversation between them all night, contemplating what to say.

"I don't want to know anything else," Hermione told her counterpart before she could say anything.

"I thought you might say that." Her future self replied. "Are you sure? Not even the smallest thing like your N.E.W.T scores or your job?"

"Yes, I am sure." Hermione replied. "I'd rather find out for myself. I'd like it better that way. Plus, you never know what little thing may be affected by each piece of information that we are told. I've found out all I ever need to know about the future today."

"Okay, then." Hermione's future self replied as she glanced down at her watch. It showed ten past eleven. "Well, I expected this conversation to go longer. I thought I had asked more, but apparently not. So, you ready to head off to bed?"

"Ya, I guess so." Hermione replied as she began to leave the living room. When she was just about to reach the stairs, she felt a hand grab hers, and as she turned around she found her older self staring pleadingly into her eyes.

"I just want you to remember that no matter how hard or confusing things get to not give up or let your feelings control you, okay?"

Hermione smiled warmly back at herself." I'll remember." She told her as she walked up the stairs to her room.

Ron/ Older Ron: 11:00pm

Ron and his older self made their way up to his room. Unlike in the past, his room was a combination of red and orange, and showed no sign of ever being covered by his Chudley Cannon's posters, bedspread, and books.

"What happened to my room?" Ron asked while taking a seat in his orange chair, which seemed to be the only familiar thing in the room.

"Mom happened." His older self replied while taking a seat on the bed. "Once you move in with Hermione, Mom will take no time in redecorating your room." He said smirking. Ron looked at him, a hint of disgust showing on his face, while he continued to search his room for something other than his chair that even gave a hint that he had lived a chunk of his life there. "Hey, don't complain." His older self continued. "At least your room wasn't decorated pink and green like Fred and George's."

"What?" gasped Ron. "That is too good. I have to see that." He noted to himself as something to do in the morning. "So what did you bring me up here to talk about?" Ron asked casually, apparently oblivious about the real reason they had come on this trip.

"Well, first off, I have to explain to you that I cannot tell you in any what-so-ever how to defeat Voldemort." His older-self explained.

"Oh, right." replied Ron, bringing himself back down to earth. "I've just been enjoying myself so much; I almost forgot why we were here." He glanced over at his counterpart, who was now lying on his back on the bed. "So we can't take the easy way out and have you tell us what to do?"

"No." was his reply. "The only other things that I can tell you now are the little things."

"Can you tell me how I did on my N.E.W.T.S?" Ron asked excitedly. "Wait, that is if Hermione, Harry, and I ever go back to school."

"Don't worry." His future self answered. "You go back to school. And…let's see, you get…I think it was…eight N.E.W.T.S? I don't really remember. You will have to ask Hermione on that one, it was a while ago."

Ron smirked, amused at his future memory. "Well then, are you not sure that you can remember your job?" he joked.

"Hey. That's not funny." His counterpart joked back. "I guess I just won't tell you what your job is then." He replied.

"Fine!" answered Ron. "I didn't really want to know anyways."

"Then is there anything else you want to know before I leave you for the night?" his older future self asked.

"No." answered Ron "I am going to listen to Hermione this time, and not find out too much."

"That would be a smart thing to do." His counterpart answered. "Although, she is really cute sometimes when she is mad." He laughed.

"I know." answered Ron. His future self walked out the door after ending the conversation, but quickly poked his head back in before he had completely left.

"You are the head of the department of magical games and sports." He told Ron. Ron quickly looked up to respond to his future self, but it was too late, he was gone.

Ginny/Older Ginny: 11:05pm

Ginny and her future self made their way up to her room after helping both Hermione's put the kids to bed. Unlike Ron's room, hers had stayed the same: blue, with a girlish tone to the room. She had still gotten a good laugh at Fred and George, though, at their now pink and green room. They both took a seat on her bed, and her future self began to explain her role during their trip.

"Well, first of all, I can only tell you the little things from now on. It was already risky enough letting you know who you married, and who your children were, but Dumbledore had told us that we were allowed."

"How did Dumbledore tell you that you were allowed?" Ginny asked, assuming that Dumbledore was no longer alive at this point in time.

"He time traveled to us like you did before you left, and explained everything." Her future self told her.

"Oh." Replied Ginny.

"So basically, we are only allowed to guide you guys to the discovery of how to defeat Voldemort, but we cannot answer that question directly." She continued. "So the four of us decided to talk to you during this time and let you in on any other little things that you wanted to know, so ask away!"

"Um…" Ginny said as she thought of many things that she would love to ask, and decided on one. "What is my job?"

"You're an auror along with Harry." Her counterpart explained. "Harry is the head auror."

"That's cool." Ginny said to her future self. "So can I know where we live?"

"Yes." She replied. "You live in Godric's Hollow where Harry and his parents used to live. Your house is on the other side of the neighborhood, though. Harry wasn't up to living that close to the place where so many bad things had started."

"Ya," Ginny said while nodding her head towards her older self. "I understand that. I would feel the same way too."

"I know you would." Her counterpart told her while smiling warmly back. "Well, it's getting late, and the four of you have a lot to discover starting tomorrow." She said while standing up. "Is there anything else that you would like to know before I leave for the night?"

"No, I think that I'm good for now." Ginny told her. "Anyways, Hermione keeps on reminding us that we shouldn't learn too much."

"I know." Said Ginny's future self before leaving Ginny behind in her bedroom.

The Future Foursome: 11:20pm

The future foursome gathered in the burrow's kitchen, around the table, after they had had a talk with their younger selves. It had been a refreshment of the old days, but it had also been a reminder of what they had had to endure to get where they were now. Hermione and Ron sat at one side of the table, while Ginny and Harry sat across from them on the other.

"So, how did your talks go?" asked Harry, striking up a conversation. "The only thing I really asked about was my job." He told them.

"I didn't even want to know anything!" Hermione told them. "Not even how I did on my N.E.W.T.S. or my job."

"Hermione, she doesn't even need to ask how she did on her N.E.W.T.S., obviously she gets one in every subject!" replied Ron, smirking at his wife, who was now blushing at his comment. "Oh, that reminds me." Ron continued. "How many N.E.W.T.S. did I get? My younger self asked and I couldn't remember."

"You got seven," She told him. "One for each class that you continued after O.W.L.S."

"Yes, that's what it was. I'll have to tell myself in the morning." Ron responded. "So, Ginny, what did you ask?"

"I didn't ask much either." She told them. "Just my job and where Harry and I lived. Apparently we all listened to Hermione and didn't ask too much, which was good."

"Ya." The group sighed.

"They have no idea what they are in for, do they?" Hermione asked. "I mean, I didn't expect it to turn out the way it did the first time around, but I am glad we fixed it after that."

"Yes." replied Ron. "I never expected it to turn out that way either and I am glad we fixed it. I don't think that I could have been able to live with myself if it had stayed that way."

"I know." replied Hermione. The foursome continued to reminisce for a while about how they had defeated Voldemort, until it became late and they headed up to bed as well.

The next morning:

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny woke up early the next morning hoping to have some time to talk to themselves before everyone else woke up, but when the reached the kitchen, they found that most everyone was up already. Their children were already eating the food that Mrs. Weasley had set on the table, while the twin's, Bill, and Charlie stood by the wall talking animatedly. Mr. Weasley and Percy were sitting at the table, eating breakfast as well, but from what Harry could hear from where he was standing, they were talking about the latest news at the ministry. The only people who weren't up yet, were in fact their future selves.

As they walked towards the table, Ron quickly laughed at his twin brother's, and said, "Nice room."

Breaking away from the conversation, Fred said, "Hey, you better watch it."

"Ya." agreed George who had broken away from the conversation as well. "You may be nineteen years younger than us at the moment, but you are still our brother, and we still have a right to beat you to a pulp."

"Boys!" said Mrs. Weasley walking over to them. "Be nice to your brother."

"Yes, mum." said Fred and George, deciding that they didn't want to pick a fight in front of her.

"Plus." Muttered Fred to Ron "Many girls think that guys who like pink are true men."

"Whatever." Replied Ron as he took a seat between Harry and Hermione.

A little while later, the foursome was joined by their future selves, and the whole Weasley family ate the large breakfast together that Mrs. Weasley had cooked. George then proposed that he had a brilliant idea.

"How about we play a game of quiddich up on the hill?" he asked. "And you know what would be really fun? Putting the younger Weasley's on one team (Harry, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Sirius, Jamie, James, Clara, and Courtney) and the older Weasley's on the other (Future Harry, future Ron, future Hermione, future Ginny, Fred, George, Charlie, Bill, and Percy). It could be the ultimate past verses future quiddich match!"

"I'm up for that." Harry replied.

"Me too." responded Ron. Soon everyone had agreed to the match, and even more amazing, Hermione had. Harry hadn't expected her to agree to the match, but both future and past Hermione's had.

After cleaning up from breakfast, the Weasley's went to the broom cupboard, and handed out brooms to everyone. When they were all settled, they made their way up to the familiar hill, where Harry remembered playing quiddich with them in the past. Since each team had an irregular nine players on their team, they decided to have them accommodate the position of chaser, so there were now five chasers, two beaters, a goalie, and a seeker. On the younger side of the Weasley family, Harry took the position of seeker. Ron was the keeper, Ginny, Hermione, Clara, Courtney, and James were the chasers, and Sirius and Jamie were the beaters. On the older side of the Weasley family, the future Harry also took the position of seeker, the future Ron took the position of keeper, the future Hermione and Ginny took the positions of chasers, as well as Bill, Charlie, and Percy. Fred and George obviously took the positions of the beaters.

Everyone then got into the proper formation above ground, and when everything was situated, Mr. Weasley walked onto the pitch with a big box in his hands. He had agreed to ref the game. He bent down and quickly opened the box, releasing the bludgers and the snitch. Finally he picked up the quaffle, paused for a moment, and then threw it up into the air. And with that the 'Ultimate past verses future quiddich match' began.


	7. A Change in the Past

Chapter 7- A Change in the Past

Ginny sped forward and quickly took possession of the quaffle for her team, her future self right behind her. She swiftly threw the quaffle left to Hermione, who fumbled with it for a moment, then threw it back to Ginny before someone had a chance to steal it from her. Predicting Hermione's move, Ginny's future self flew in front of Ginny, but James quickly flew in front of her in front of her, stealing the ball before it reached her anticipated grasp. He weaved between the future Hermione and Charlie, dodged a bludger sent his way by his Uncle George, and threw the ball at the left hoop. The future Ron swiftly flew to where the ball had been shot and whacked the ball away with his broomstick to the future Ginny. Apparently, the future Ron was no longer nervous when he was playing goalie; especially without Slytherin students jeering at him.

The future Ginny sped down the pitch, dodging a bludger that was sent her way by Sirius. James flew towards her, diving to steal the quaffle, but she hastily dropped the ball to Percy below her and spiraled away. Dumbstruck, James regained control of his broom, and turned around to go after Percy, who was now quite close to the hoops. There was a nervous look on Ron's face as Percy prepared to throw the quaffle, but as it sped towards the right hoop, Ron's hands instantly appeared, wrapping around the ball. Some sighs of relief could be heard from his teammates as he quickly threw the ball to an expectant Clara, his face considerably lighter.

Meanwhile, both Harry's were circling the pitch, keeping an eye out for a glimpse of gold that was supposed to be the golden snitch. Neither of them had had any such luck so far, but the game below them was becoming interesting as the ball continued to go constantly back and forth, each team blocking the other's goals and handing it to their teammate's. Harry suddenly realized that he had been staying still for a little to long to watch Ron's second attempt to block the hoop, which he luckily made. He quickly began to circle the pitch again to continue his search for the snitch, until an idea came to his mind. He suddenly jerked his broom forward, and began to travel as if he was following a snitch. He was attempting a feint, and he wondered if his future self would go along with it.

Glancing behind him as he sped around the field, he saw his future self completely ignoring his sudden burst of speed. He hurriedly slowed down his broom, sad, yet he was still pretty sure when he thought of it that it wouldn't work. He could hear the yell from his future self on the other side of the pitch say "You're gonna have to do better than that to trick me, mate."

Back down on the pitch, the score was now ten to ten, each team having only scored one goal. Hermione was finally getting the hang of handling the quaffle, and she was now passing it quickly back and forth between Ginny and James, while the future team tried to figure out who would get the ball next so that they could steal it. As they approached the goal, Hermione rapidly threw the quaffle to Ginny, who faked like she was going to the right hoop, and shot it in the center. The future Ron barely missed blocking the ball from going in. The score was now twenty to thirty with the people from the past winning.

Now determined to tie the score back up, the future team threw some of their best moves that they had learned out on the pitch, to easily get around the other team. Fred and George managed to control a bludger and bat it back and forth between them, while the future Ginny, Charlie, Hermione, and Percy followed right behind them with the quaffle. James made an attempt to go behind the group and sneak up on them, but when he tried, the future Hermione and Charlie detached themselves from the pack and warded him away. Nerves built up again, Ron was unable this time to stop the ball, and it went through the left goal before he could get his hands around the ball to stop it. The score was now tied up again twenty to twenty.

"Shoot." muttered Harry from above as he watched the future team score two straight goals in a row. Somehow, Ron had been unable to catch them. He continued to keep an eye on his future self, glancing up occasionally to make sure that he didn't make a dive for the snitch. They had both tried fooling each other several times now, but they knew each other's moves, so they never worked. Harry flew over to the future side of the pitch, where the future Ron flew below him, making a miraculous save at a goal attempt by Ginny. It was getting close to time when the snitch should be showing up. Even though the score was low, they had been playing for hours now, and it was in the late afternoon. As Harry began to fly back to his team's side of the pitch, a flash of light drew his attention above him. There it was, the golden snitch, floating about fifteen feet above his head.

Hurtling forward, he flew after the snitch that seemed to taunt him as it flew higher and higher into the sky. He knew that his future self had seen the snitch too when he felt a hard pound into his body. The two Harry's flew after the snitch, up and down, left and right, pushing each other's limits to figure out who would be able to catch the snitch first. They were now no longer aware of what was going on below them in the game, and who was winning. The snitch suddenly made a sharp left, and Harry felt a hard pound on his shoulder as his future self tried to push him over to get better positioning to catch the snitch. Harry pushed him back with just as much force that anyone watching from the ground would be unable to tell who Harry was and who his future self was.

Without even noticing the arm extend, Harry saw the hand on his future self just about to close around the snitch. "No!" he cried, as he pushed his future self with as much strength as he could muster. It must have been a hard push, because it threw his future self over a few inches into the air, his hand closing around nothing. This gave Harry just enough time to put on an extra burst of speed and quickly wrap his fingers around the cold, hard, ball before his future self could push him out of the way as well.

A whistle sounded below, signaling the end of the game, and all the players quickly lowered themselves to the ground, exhausted. "What is the final score?" Harry panted, dropping his broom to the ground. He had several aches all over his body, which he was pretty sure were now some pretty big bruises from where his future self had pushed him.

"One hundred and ninety to eighty." Mr. Weasley told him as he began to pack up the balls from the game. "The past team wins!"

"We are never gonna live this down, are we?" asked the future Harry.

"Never." Harry answered. They all laughed and began to head to the trail that lead back down to the burrow. Charlie and Percy stayed behind to help Mr. Weasley put away the bludgers. As they approached the house, they quickly threw their brooms back into the broom cupboard, and walked into the burrow, all taking a seat at the kitchen table.

"So, how was the game? Who won?" asked Mrs. Weasley. All the people who had been on the future team began to groan at this comment.

"The past team won…somehow." replied the future Hermione, which gave Mrs. Weasley a good chuckle.

"Well, this really proves that you all are getting old." Mrs. Weasley told them. A snicker could be heard from the corner of the room in agreement with her, escaping the lips of the children of the future Ron, Hermione, Harry, and Ginny.

"Mum, your not helping." Said the future Ron as his head quickly fell on the table, "I swear that game lasted forever. We were up there for hours on end."

"I know," Mrs. Wesley added in agreement "You went out there at about ten thirty, and now it is almost dinner time. Speaking of dinner, you all better wash up. It should be ready in about an hour." More groans could be heard from the kitchen as people began to get up to make themselves presentable for dinner, until the future Ron was the only one left, head still against the table.

"Ron, sweetheart, you better go get ready for dinner like the others. It would be rude to come to dinner like that." She said looking him up and down.

"I know, I know." Ron told her. "I'll get upstairs…eventually."

Everyone was at the dinner table all washed up, but still tired, when Mrs. Weasley had told them to come down. Tonight Bill, Charlie, Percy, Fred, and George would be heading back home to their wives and jobs. Dinner consisted of some wonderful chicken that Mrs. Weasley cooked up, as well as some bread and very creamy soup. Desert was some treacle tarts, as well as some cauldron cakes. It was very delicious in Harry's opinion. Well, at least until Mrs. Weasley kept on insisting that he needed to eat more since he was so skinny.

They once again ate and talked about their lives so far, as well as quiddich and other things. Although everyone from the future quiddich team were reluctant to talk about how they thought they played in the quiddich game earlier that day.

At around eleven o'clock, the five Weasley boys headed out the door. Saying their final goodbye's to the time traveler's and wishing them good luck on their path to figuring out how to save Voldemort. By twelve o'clock everyone was in bed, tired, asleep, and worn out from the past two days events.

Back in the Past:

A mist clung to the air on a forest path that was dank and mysterious. It was a gloomy day outside, and it had been raining all night long. Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts, strode around the edge of Hogwarts grounds thinking to himself. Something disastrous was coming…he could feel it, but he couldn't decipher what it was. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny had been gone for a week now, but he knew that they had still not discovered the secret to finding out how to defeat Voldemort, because time had not changed yet. He was hoping that they would find the answer soon, before Voldemort attacked again…that is if the future even is the key to defeating Voldemort.

When he had gone to the future to visit the future foursome (before Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny had left) they made is seem pretty clear to him that this was the key to defeating the Dark Lord. They never said it out loud, but he could read it in their eyes.

There was a loud snap to his left, and Dumbledore quickly turned around to see Hagrid, the gamekeeper, walking towards him. " How are ya, Professor?" Hagrid asked as his large strides finally caught up with Dumbledore's small ones.

"Fine, Hagrid. Thank you." Dumbledore replied. "Just thinking."

"I do tha' a lot too, sir." Hagrid commented, scratching his head, "Although, I prefer ter do mine in the forest."

"I'm sure you do." said Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling like they normally did when a good thought or memory came to his mind.

Suddenly there was a high pitched chuckle behind the pair, and an all too familiar voice muttered "Well, well, Dumbledore. It's been a while." The pair whipped around to see a pale face with snake-like eyes, slits for a nose, and a malicious smile.

"Tom." muttered Dumbledore, his expression blank. Hagrid, though, had a look of terror on his face.

"How many more times do I need to tell you to call me Lord Voldemort?" Voldemort snorted, staring at Dumbledore with a look of disgust.

"Apparently one more time, since I can't seem to call you anything other than your real name." replied Dumbledore.

"You want me to keep the name of a filthy mudblood who has no respect for his own son?" sneered Voldemort.

"It does not matter what is behind the name, Tom, it only matters about the person who is using it." said Dumbledore.

"There you go again, Dumbledore, cracking your wise comments that no one understands or cares about. I am only here to warn you that I plan to attack in three days." Said Voldemort, his malicious grin now tacked back on his face.

"And why would you warn me about when you plan to attack?" asked Dumbledore.

"I thought I might give you a chance…you know put up a good fight. You won't even win anyway." Voldemort continued.

"I see." said Dumbledore, his face now blocking a wave of terror. Tom was planning something. He wouldn't just come here and tell him when he planned to attack.

"I'll see you in three days." Said Voldemort, vanishing with a pop, leaving an empty space where he had once been.

"Phew," said Hagrid as he turned to Dumbledore, a look of relief on his face. "Gla' that's over." But when he looked closely he saw Dumbledore's face alight with terror.

"Don't move." Dumbledore told him as he cautiously peered around the area. "Tom is planning something. He wouldn't just come to tell us when he was planning to attack."

Suddenly, there was a bang from their right, and Dumbledore and Hagrid flew ten feet away from where they were standing, landing flat on their backs. A dark smoke filled the air, and Dumbledore could no longer see who had attacked them, or where Hagrid was. Abruptly, a voice filled the area enclosed by smoke.

"Avada Kedavra." The spell hit Dumbledore squarely in the chest, and he fell to the ground with a small thud.

"Dumbledore?" shouted Hagrid. "DUMBLEDORE?" he shouted again. "Are ye okay? Where are ye?" he panted searching hurriedly around in the patch of dark smoke. Suddenly, he tripped over a lump piled on the ground, but didn't fall over. The smoke began to clear, and as Hagrid looked down to see what he had tripped over, he saw the peaceful face of his headmaster.

"No." Hagrid whispered, his big giant voice sounding small and high. "Dumbledore….NO!" Hagrid whipped his head around, looking for the culprit, and just before it vanished into thin air, he saw a young man with sleek blond hair apparate away at the edge if the grounds. "YER LITTLE EVIL!" Hagrid yelled, even though he was pretty sure that he hadn't heard him.

Tears began to fall down Hagrid's face, and he cautiously picked up the limp form that was once the headmaster's body. He slowly began to carry the body back up to the castle, but when he got close to the school, he saw a crowd of students standing there, and Minerva McGonagall rushing towards him.

"Hagrid! What are you carrying? What happened? Where's Albus?" she asked, but all her questions were answered for she, got closer to the half-giant. "No." she said. "It can't be. Who did it?"

"Malfoy." said Hagrid. "He finally had the guts to do the job that he had been assigned by Voldemort last year."

"Oh." Said what little voice that Minerva had left. Some tears were welling in her eyes as well, but she had to be strong now in front of the school. She was now the headmistress according to the contract that had been set up by her and Dumbledore. "We have to bring him inside, and try to keep things as calm as possible. As soon as parents find out that Dumbledore was killed at Hogwarts, they will be pushing down the gates to get their kids home with them.

"Okay." said Hagrid, as he slowly made his way past the crowd of curious students, and into the castle.

Minerva quickly approached the students who were now whispering between each other about the body that they had just seen Hagrid carry inside. Some students were in tears and breaking down, some just stared in front of them in awe, and some were whispering comments between each other about what they thought had to have happened to kill one of the greatest wizards of all time. "I want all prefects and heads of houses to lead their students back to their dormitories." Minerva told them. "No one is permitted to leave their dormitories until I say that it is okay." She continued. As she looked around the crowd of sad students, she expected to see the upset, rule-breaking faces of Harry, Ron, and Hermione there at her comment, but then she realized that they were off in the future trying to figure out how to fix this problem in the first place. _Hopefully they will get back soon_ she thought. _Then maybe we can fix this whole mishap._ She then, slowly made her inside the castle. There was a lot to do, and not a whole bunch of time to do it in.

Back in the future:

The future Hermione was standing in the kitchen charming a knife to cut up some vegetables for lunch with her wand, when she felt an invisible wave wash over her. Her body suddenly felt all tingly. Her wand then dropped to her side, and the knife instantly stopped cutting. She looked up to see the future Ron staring up at her with a look of terror on his face. "Something's wrong." She told him as he continued to stare at her. "Something happened in the past that didn't happen before." The future Ron quickly nodded in agreement.

"We have to go and warn the others." He said.

"Let's go." replied the future Hermione. And with that, they were out the door, into the hot and blistering day outside to go tell the others what they knew…

A/N: Okay, so now the plots in the story are slowly starting to build up, and there will be more and more as the next few chapters continue on. Please leave a review and let me know what you think. I would really appreciate it, and a thank you goes out to those of you who have already left a review and added the story to your favorites. I hope that you keep reading, and that the story comes to your liking. Just out of curiosity, I was wondering what you guys thought about the quidditch match? Was it good or bad, because I have never written one before? Please tell me what you think. Thanks!


	8. Missing

Chapter 8- Missing

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny, were walking down a dirt path in the future on a wonderful day outside. The trees were in bloom all around them, and nice smells as well as pretty colors surrounded them as they made their way into a little covering of trees. They were immersed in conversation, talking about possible solutions of what the final horcrux could be, each person as unsure as the last about how accurate their idea was that they were proposing.

"Well, could it be something in the old Riddle Mansion?" asked Ron. "I mean, that is where he killed his Dad and grandparents when he was sixteen."

"I don't think so." said Hermione. "The house is a little too out in the open and anyone, muggle or magical, could happen upon it when they went to the house. I think that it would be disguised a little more, or even if it was out in the open, not something that a someone would just happen to pick up. Its got to be more disguised and associated with Voldemort.

"Well, how about something to do with the orphanage he lived in?" asked Ginny. "He hated that place, so maybe he planted one of his horcruxes there to cause trouble. Maybe it's hidden in the basement or in his old things or something."

"I don't think that's likely either." said Ron. "Just like Hermione said, it's a little too out in the open. The orphanage is overflowing with muggles, and one of them could have found it and taken it away. No, the horcrux is something else. I just can't put my finger on it." There was a pause for a few minutes while the group tried to think of other possibilities, and then a thought suddenly came to Harry.

"Of course! Why didn't I think of this before?" Harry asked to himself. "Listen, you know the night that Dumbledore almost died, the night when we were trying the retrieve one of Voldemort's horcrux's, Slytherin's locket?" Ron, Hermione, and Ginny all nodded their heads in understanding. "Well, that night Dumbledore talked about how Voldemort's worst fear is death and how he thinks that death is the worst possible thing in the world. Anyways, after we have gone around and destroyed the other horcruxes, some being relics from the founders, while others were things that we thought Voldemort just used to replace the relics that he could not find? Well, now that I think about it, weren't all those other objects associated with death? I mean he had a sword for one, hangman's ropes for another, all things that either caused or were associated with death. So, wouldn't it be logical, that if there are no more relics from the founders left, that this last horcrux would also have to do with death?"

The three other time travelers continued to nod their heads in agreement as they waited for Harry to continue with his theory. "So, I am going to guess that this last horcrux would have to be one of the most important of them all that associates with death. One that he had a lot of pride in, one that had to do with a belief that he made a main part of his death eaters group, one that built a chamber below Hogwarts, and one that he was a descendant of."

"Salazar Slytherin!" gasped Hermione. "Oh, Harry, that completely makes sense, but how does Slytherin have anything to do with death?" she asked.

"Maybe nothing he did or any relics left behind, but maybe a sign put by a person's head to signal that they are dead…a gravestone. I think that Salazar Slytherin's gravestone is the final horcrux. It isn't a relic, but it is the closest thing that he could find to one, and it also matches his other pattern of death themed horcruxes."

"That works." replied Hermione. "Then the first thing that we will do when we get back home is go to Slytherin's gravestone and destroy the last horcrux…if it is there," she added

"Excellent." Said Harry, "So, what about R.A.B., now? Does anybody have any ideas about who that could be?"

"I've still been going to the library, even here in the future, looking for names that fit the personality and initials, but nothing so far has seemed to come up. It's been very frustrating." Hermione told them.

"I couldn't think of anyone that fit either." said Ron. "I went through some dark arts books, to see if there were any authors or names within the book that worked, but there were none."

"If only Sirius were here." said Ginny, looking off into space, her remark causing her a sad glance from Harry. "He might have known someone who fit the initials; I mean his family was associated with dark magic."

Hermione's face suddenly lit up at Ginny's comment. "Ginny…you're…you're a genius!" gasped Hermione. "I don't know why it didn't come to me before?" she said to herself. She began to explain her realization when she saw three dumbstruck faces staring back at her. "Do you guys remember the summer before our fifth year, Ginny, your fourth, that we spent at Sirius's house cleaning it up?" Harry, Ron, and Ginny nodded their head in agreement. "Well, don't you remember the time that we were cleaning up with Sirius, and he began to talk about his family, most importantly his younger brother?"

"I don't see where you're going with this." said Ron. "What's so important about Sirius and his dead brother?"

"See, Ron that is the important part." Hermione told him. "Sirius explained to us how his brother joined the death eaters, but then decided that he wanted out. You don't just get out of Voldemort's death eater group willy nilly, it is a life long service or death. He must have realized Voldemort's secret just before Voldemort killed him for wanting to quit. And, most importantly, his name was Regulus Black. I'm not sure of his middle initial, but that's two initials that fit, and one association with Voldemort that none of the other R.A.B.'s had." Hermione explained.

"I have to agree with Hermione, now that I think about it." said Harry. "I guess we were given a clue to who R.A.B. could have possibly been early on, but we just missed it." He continued. "Well, that's two things off the list, now we only have to figure out one more and then we can go home."

"What I don't get," said Ron, "Is why we had to come to the future to figure out these things? We could have just as well figured these out in the past if we had put this much thought into it there."

"You have to remember that we didn't come here to figure out what was the last horcrux, or who R.A.B. was. We came here to figure out how to defeat Voldemort. So you are technically right that we could have just as well figured this stuff out back home in the past, but we still have a job to do here in the future anyway." Ginny explained to her older brother.

There was a shout from behind the foursome, and they turned around to see the future Ron and Hermione running their way. In their wake came an invisible wave that washed over them, leaving a tingling sensation in their bodies that left them wondering what was going on. "We have…some bad news." The future Hermione panted once she had caught up with them and the future Ron just slightly behind. "Something's happened." She began, now catching her breath.

"Would this have anything to do with the invisible wave we just felt?" asked Hermione. "What did that mean?"

"It means," her future self explained, "that something in the past has changed itself. Something's happened that didn't happen last time."

"Do you know what it is?" Harry asked. "Is this bad?"

"Well, from the power of the wave, it was strong, so I think that something big happened. I think that someone died back there. And yes, Harry. This is bad."

Harry began to pace up and down contemplating what could have possibly happened, and what they should do. "Maybe we should go back there. We should go and find out who has died and what we should do from there. We don't know how much this change could have altered what has happened now."

"I don't know what to tell you, Harry." The future Hermione told him. "We are in uncharted waters as of know. Whatever we know about what happened could now be all in the past; only a memory to us."

"But you guys, what about what we came here to do?" Hermione asked them. "Wouldn't it just be smarter if we figured out how to defeat Voldemort, and then went back to the past to figure out who died and fix it? I mean, we are able to go to the past and future quite easily."

"I don't know." her future self told her. "How about you four talk about it while we round up the others? How about we meet in the burrow in another hour?"

"That sounds good." said Harry. "We'll see you then." With two pops the future Ron and Hermione vanished on the spot and the foursome were back by themselves again.

"I think that we should go." said Ron. "What if this is a major death, and it has really altered the future?" he asked.

"Yes," said Hermione, "but what if it was a minor death? Nothing too important. Maybe we should just stay here in the future, and finish our job."

"Hermione." said Harry. "I thought that you, least of all in the group, would want to go back to the past to fix things."

"I do," said Hermione, "but at the same time I don't. For some reason I am getting this feeling that we should stay here in the future and finish our job, but…I just don't know. I don't know."

"Well, we need to figure out so that we do know." said Ginny. "Most likely we are going to have to decide by the time everyone gets back to the burrow, and we begin to make a plan."

"I want to decide," said Hermione, "I just…I think I'm gonna keep walking. You know, clear my head…by myself." She said. Looking at Ron's worried face, she added: "I'll be fine. I just need some time to sort things out. How about I meet you back at the burrow in an hour with my answer? We'll talk then." She suggested.

"Alright." said Harry. "We'll meet you then. See you." He told her, and with a faint pop, he was gone and on his way back to the burrow. After saying their goodbyes, Ron's followed by a light kiss on the cheek, both Ginny and Ron disappeared with a faint pop as well.

Turning back to the path while lightly touching her hand to the cheek where Ron had given her a kiss, she headed back down the forest path. The further she went down, the darker it grew, but she didn't seem to mind because her mind was lost in thought. She didn't know why she wanted to stay in the future, she didn't even want to! She wanted to go back to her own present time where she belonged at the moment, but for some reason her mind was telling her to stay here. _Maybe I should have let Ron stay_ Hermione thought._ He really cares about me…he loves me. He could have helped me decide, but no, I had to tell him I wanted to be alone. I'm so stupid._

The trees were getting thicker and thicker the further she went into the forest, obscuring even more sunlight, and she began to get a little worried about the time. _I'd better head back_ she thought._ I still don't know what I am gonna choose to do, but I guess I'll decide when I get there_. She began to prepare he body to apparate, concentrating her mind on her destination, but just before she could turn on her heal, a hand wrapped around her mouth, and an arm grabbed her body. She began to thrash around, struggling for someway out of the persons grasp, but they were too strong.

"Its been too long since I've last seen you…mudblood." Said a voice that Hermione had heard not too long ago. When she heard those words, her body went limp with shock and despair. The person to whom the voice belonged to pulled out his wand and cast a body binding charm on her, while in the meantime, taking her wand. "You won't be needing this." The voice told her, as it tucked her wand in its pocket. And a few seconds later, there was a faint pop, and both were gone from the spot.

"Harry, where is Hermione? She should have been here a half an hour ago." said the future Hermione.

"I don't know." Harry told her. "She said she'd be here on time. Just give her a little while. She's just trying to think. People always lose track of time when they are thinking." He assured to her, but it was meant more to himself. Where was she? Hermione was never late for anything…ever!

The whole Weasley family was sitting in the living room, waiting to start the meeting about what they should do concerning the change in the past. They were all nervous about the possibilities, but no matter what, the change meant that someone knew Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were in the future…someone bad. They had been waiting over thirty minutes for Hermione to show up, but so far, no luck. When the clock showed that it had been an hour after the meeting was supposed to start, the future Ron suggested that a few of them go look for her and bring her there since she hadn't come yet.

A faint pop signaled that Ron and Harry had arrived where they were walking earlier, and they began to peer around. There was no sign of Hermione there, so they walked further down the path. She couldn't have gotten too far. The forest began to darken as they walked one, and the trees began to get thicker. A fox scurried behind them, cracking a twig, causing them to jump. Where could she be?

A white piece of paper tacked to a tree caught Harry's eye, and he hurried over to see what it was. Maybe it was note from Hermione explaining her absence. When came up to the piece of paper, pulled it down of the tree, and brought it to a level where both he and Ron could read it, he knew instantly that this was not Hermione's writing when he glanced down at it. It was in a messy scrawl, not too easy to read, but when he was able to decipher the letters, he let out a gasp.

_Dear Potter and Weasley,_

_I know that you have come here to the future to try to figure out how to defeat the Dark Lord, but I will not let you. I, in the past, killed Dumbledore-- the thing that I had not originally done before. Now the future is no longer set in stone. I have Hermione, and if you ever want to see her again, give up and go back to the past. I will know if you have done so or not, so no trickery whatsoever. _

_You will never defeat the Dark Lord this time!_

_Draco Malfoy_

"This is bad." Harry told Ron, as he continued to glance down Malfoy's scrawl. "This is real bad…" When Harry looked back up at Ron for the first time since they had read the letter, he felt really bad. His best mate's face was a pale as a ghost, and he looked like he could fall over and faint any second.

"We have to go back to the burrow if we want any chance of saving Hermione." Harry told him. "Let's go." Ron could only nod his head, and with a final pop, they were both gone…just like Hermione.

A/N: Okay, thanks so much for reading. The idea for Hermione's kidnapping comes from Hermione51. I originally wasn't going to write it this way, but I think that it connects what I am planning to happen later much better, so thanks a whole bunch for the idea. I appreciate whoever leaves a review; the feedback always helps me continue writing the story, because I have a sense of what the readers think. Thanks again!


	9. All Alone With Malfoy

Chapter 9- All Alone With Malfoy

Hermione landed in a crumpled heap as her captor's grip released, and she fell to the ground. The pain of the fall felt like she was being stabbed by a thousand knives, it almost compared to what she expected the cruciatus curse to feel like. She attempted to pull her body up from the ground, feeling aches and pains as she went in places she expected to have bruises in later. Her gaze steadily made its way to a pair of eyes staring at her every move. Cold, icy eyes that stared intently at her as she stared back. She sneered at him once she had fully gained balance; sneered at the face of a man whom she hated in the past, and whom she still hated in the future. Draco Malfoy.

He smirked at her as she stared up at him…his same old evil smirk. That was one of the only things about him that was the same, she noticed. His blonde hair that was normally smoothed down and perfect was now slumped about on his head, barely combed. His eyes no longer shown with the playfulness he used to when he made fun of her. Now they were still, serious, cold, and dead. As if they were reflecting the person he had become. His clothes were battered and torn; they looked like they had barely been given any care at all, but through all this change, she still knew it was him. He still had his old ways about him. The ambition to live up to his father in the Dark Lord's eyes and be his most trusted follower. That was one thing that hadn't changed. Especially from the seventeen years before when he had tried to kill Dumbledore.

"Malfoy." Hermione muttered, still not moving her gaze from his. "Your intentions haven't changed a bit since I last saw you seventeen years ago, I see." She stated.

"Why would they, Granger? My efforts are serving well honored purposes that you, Potter, and the two Weasley's are out to destroy." He told her in his usual drawl.

Hermione looked at him suspiciously, her brown eyes darkening. "Voldemort is no longer alive in this time. Why are you still out to stop us if he no longer exists? Are you working for someone else now?"

"He no longer exists in this time, yes. In your time however, that is a different story." Answered Draco to her question. "And I am working on my own accord, thank you very much."

"You're working by yourself?" Hermione laughed, and continued to do so when she saw Draco's annoyed expression in return. "I find that hard to believe. You were never good at coming up with your own plans. Where are your cronies Crabbe and Goyle?" she asked.

"Dead." Draco simply stated. "The Dark Lord found them of no use, so he had them disposed of." He explained to her. "Nothing new. It happened several times while I was under the Dark Lords command. He couldn't just let them go, they might tell someone of his plans, so they were killed instead."

"That's awful." said Hermione, getting enveloped in the conversation. "So you just sat back and watched while Voldemort murdered your innocent friends?" She asked, utterly terrified. She failed to notice that her mouth was hanging open a little. "How could you do that?"

"They were never my friends" Draco spat out, automatically defending himself. "Merely people I _used_ to bully others and satisfy my entertainment. They were never too bright. They dropped out of school in seventh year because they failed all their sixth year classes."

"Do you even miss them?" she asked curiously "Do you even miss anyone who died in the war?"

"No." replied Draco, his face expressionless. "I miss no one that would show signs of weakness."

"Oh, what a terrible weakness." Hermione retorted sarcastically. "Loving someone, even missing someone is so bad." She paused before she continued. "That is the way that Harry defeats Voldemort, isn't it Malfoy?" she asked, although she already knew the answer. It always gave her great satisfaction to toy with him, but she knew it wouldn't last long. She was _his _prisoner.

"Why should I even tell you, in fact, why would I even tell you how Voldemort is defeated?" Draco sneered as he began to pace around her injured body. "Your Potter's best friend and you would automatically tell him how to in the blink of an eye. Anyways, you are the mudblood know-it-all, shouldn't you know the answer to that question?" he asked.

"Oh, I do." Hermione taunted, never taking her eyes away from his cold, icy stare. "I just like toying with you." She smirked at his irritable expression.

"You seem a little too confident for one who is being held prisoner." Draco stated, stopping in his place. "Why?"

"Malfoy, I know you too well." Hermione told him. "You can threaten people all you want, but you'll never hurt anyone."

"Correction." Malfoy told her. "You know my seventeen year-old self too well. I've changed more than you'll ever know over the past seventeen years." There was a pause before anyone spoke again.

"Why did you take me?" Hermione demanded, changing the subject.

"For several reasons," He told her. "First on all, to get on Potter's nerves. Both of them." He added at her questioning look. "Then, to give Weasley a heart attack." He continued, "But on a more important note, to continue executing my plan. First, I went back in time and killed Dumbledore, the supposed 'Greatest Wizard of all Time'." He told her and continued to do so when he saw her shocked and angered face. "It was quite easy, in fact. The old man didn't even put up a fight. Anyways, I've threatened Potter, Weasley, and the little Weaslette that if they don't go back to the past I'll kill you." He smirked at the last part.

"What an exceptional plan." Hermione told him. "I'm sure my kidnapping will be key to preventing Voldemort from falling in the final battle. Tell me, is that before or after you kill me?" This aggravated Draco a little.

"Your lip is getting quite annoying, Granger." Draco told her. "Anyways, we both know Potter loves playing the hero too much to just listen to me and go back to the past. That has always been his greatest weakness. The Dark Lord always planned around that part of his personality."

"It may be a weakness, but it has always worked out for him in the past, has it not?" Hermione asked him.

"Not on his own doing, but from the help of others." Draco sneered while he talked about Harry. "This time all he has is Weasley and the little Weaslette, and I am sure that they won't be able to do much against me."

"See, Malfoy, arrogance has always been your greatest weakness. That is how other people were able to save Harry in the past from Voldemort." She told him. "He never predicted what other people were capable of. Maybe if you had thought your plan out a little more—."

"This conversation is over." Draco interrupted before Hermione could say anymore. "I'm sick of your questioning mine and the Dark Lord's tactics." He pulled out his wand and bound Hermione's hands and feet together. She would have put up more of a fight, but she knew that even if she escaped she was wandless and it would be hopeless. "Your only hope is if Saint Potter actually listens for once and goes back to the past. Otherwise…" he laughed instead of finishing his sentence, but Hermione knew that he would've said that she was going to die.

Draco magically lifted Hermione to a cottage that was standing behind where they had been talking earlier. It was small and covered in long weeds and moss, so Hermione assumed that it had been there for a while. The door was made of wood, and there was no handle to open it with. Draco muttered something under his breath when they approached the cottage, and the door automatically swung open. Hermione caught what she thought sounded like the word apprentice. He brought her inside, and Hermione began to look around. It was a one room cottage. There was a green couch in the middle with some chairs surrounding it. In the corner there was a table. It was covered in dirty plates and cups, and Hermione thought she saw some flies swarming around it. In the other corner there was an unmade bed with a brown frame, the turquoise sheets thrown about everywhere. Hermione expected Draco to place her down on the couch, but he suddenly turned to the left as soon as they passed through the door, and opened a door that stood right next to it.

It was dark and damp in the room he took her. There was no source of light except a small window in the right corner, but it was covered in bars. A mattress lay on the opposite side of the room, a toilet right next to it. Draco threw her body down on the mattress and quickly exited the room without saying another word and without undoing the magical bonds that he had placed upon her hands and feet. She heard a click on the other side of the door, and when she got up to go turn the handle, her assumptions turned out to be correct. It was locked.

Frustrated, she sat back down on the mattress. "Great, look what great big mess I've gotten myself into now." She muttered to herself aloud. She knew that Draco was right. Harry did love playing the hero. It was something that he couldn't help doing, but she hoped that he would listen this time. Maybe the fact that Draco killed Dumbledore was enough for Harry to go back and investigate first, before they tried to get her out of this situation. Hopefully…that was all she could do now-a-days: hope.

The sky started to darken outside her window, and her eyes started to flutter shut as exhaustion fell upon her. Then, all of a sudden, a light began to grow outside her window. It started out faint, then grew lighter and lighter as it got closer. She quickly moved her body over to the window, and gasped as she peered out. There, right outside her window, stood a magnificent, glowing, silver stag. It lowered its head down towards her.

"Hermione." It said.


End file.
